SkyClan's Future
I decided to write about what I think will happen to SkyClan in the future. Set three moons after Firestar and Sandstorm left. Do not read if you haven't read Firestar's Quest, because it would not really make sense! It is from Tinypaw's point of view! --Rabbitsnow 15:29, January 4, 2010 (UTC) Allegiances Leader- Leafstar Brown-and-cream tabby she-cat Deputy- Sharpclaw Dark ginger tom Medicine Cat-''' '''Echosong Silver tabby she-cat Warriors- ''' '''Patchfoot Black and white tom (App.- Bouncepaw) Clovertail Light brown she-cat with a white belly and legs. Mother of Bouncepaw, Rockpaw and Tinypaw Sparrowpelt Dark brown tabby tom (App.- Tinypaw) Cherrytail Tortoiseshell she-cat (App.- Rockpaw) Apprentices-''' '''Bouncepaw Ginger tom Tinypaw Small white she-cat, blue eyes Rockpaw Black tom Oueens-''' '''Petalnose Pale grey she-cat Kits- Mintkit (Grey tabby tom), and Sagekit '''(Pale grey she-cat) '''Other Cats- (Loners who live in a two groups, except Hutch) Hutch Dark brown tabby tom, formerly Shortwhisker of SkyClan Bella Black she-cat, Flower's mother, adult Chip Ginger tabby tom, Flower's father, adult Flower Young tortoiseshell she-cat, about 11 moons, kit of Bella and Chip Stripes Young grey tom, about 11 moons, family unknown Smudge Elderly black and white tom, Bella's father Penny Elderly tortoiseshell she-cat, Bella's mother Fish Brown tom, adult, father of Rose and Flash Rose Pinkish-brown she-cat, about 7 moons, sister to Flash, kit of Fish Flash Boastful young ginger tom, about 7 moons, brother to Rose, kit of Fish Chapter One Tinypaw padded across the loose shingle leading away from the low set apprentices den. The sharp stones pushed into her soft pads, causing her to wince. How she envied cats like Cherrytail and Sparrowpelt, who were of SkyClan descent. Their rough pads were perfectly suited to walking over stones, and their strong hind legs made them perfectly suited to SkyClan hunting, especially squirrels, birds and other creatures who live in trees. As far as she was concerned, her mother Clovertail was just a normal loner who had lived a little way along the gorge. Tinypaw paused to raise her head, and spotted the dim leaf-fall sun rising above the edge of the steep gorge where SkyClan camp was situated. The apprentices' cave was at the bottom of the steep gorge. She could see the medicine cat Echosong's den, a cave at the end of a gentle trickling stream that flows along the bottom of the gorge. The water was slow and shallow, a favourite place for kits to play in, and it supplies a good supply of water to the clan. If Tinypaw looked to her left she could see the fallen tree that lay high up above the river, the ends resting on the gorge edges. Beyond that was the forest, where lots of rogue cats lived, although she had never met any of them. SkyClan had a few patches of forest on their territory, just not much. Tinypaw loved hunting in the forest. She was too slow to catch any rabbits out in the open, and can't jump high enough up any of the lone trees that most cats hunt from. She was a good stalker though, because she is light and can place her paws down lightly. When she is told to hunt, she always heads to the forest. She could remember Firestar when he and his mate came to rebuild the clan. That was over three moons ago now! He had came from a forest. His entire territory had been forest. It all sounded wonderful to Tinypaw. A little way to her left, a sloping cliff path led up the rocky gorge wall. A little way up was the nursery den. Petalnose was the only queen there, along with her two kits, Mintkit and Sagekit. The path snaked up with lots of bends, and only a little way up from the nursery was the elders den, where no-one slept yet. Just before the elders cave was a small path that branched off. It led across to Leafstar's den, and then joined anothe adjacent path which led up to the Skyrock, where the clan went to gatherings every full moon, even though there were no other clans to meet with. All the way after the elders den, at the very top was the warriors den, where Patchfoot, Clovertail (Tinypaw's own mother), Sparrowpelt (Tinypaw's mentor) and Sparrowpelt's sister Cherrytail all slept. Tinypaw padded over to the river. Most of her clanmates were sharing tongues or eating prey. She could see Cherrtail's dappled tortoiseshell pelt and Patchfoot's patchy black and white pelt; the two were sharing a plump grey squirrel. Her belly growled at the sight of prey, but she knew Sparrowpelt had to give her permission after she had done her duties. That was the good thing- there weren't any elders, so she didn't have to fetch any bedding for them! She saw the clan deputy Sharpclaw sitting alone eating a mouse. He had done everything a deputy should, like organising patrols and hunting parties, but was always gruff and unfriendly towards most cats, including Leafstar. Tinypaw bent down and bagan to lap up the cold, clear water from the stream. It woke her up from her post-sleep status beforehand. She heard excited mewling and looked up to see the pale grey pelt of Petalnose picking her way carefully down the cliff path. Her grey pelt stood out easily from the pale orange rock. Her two kits scampered energetically around her paws, whining to run ahead. She could hear Petalnose's stern meow to her kits, and the grey tabby tom's tail sank, but he stayed at his mother's side. The small she-cat however, dashed ahead, sending scree sliding down the slope. She caught a paw on a small rock jutting out from the ground, and tripped over. Petalnose mewed in distress and hurtled after her kit, who was turning head over heels down the path. Tinypaw could hear the kit's squeals and sprinted across to the bottom of the cliff path. The she-kit came to a stop right at Tinypaw's paws. Petalnose soon arrived and scooped up her kit. "Sagekit! How many times have I told you not to mess around and to listen to me! You could have badly hurt yourself!" she mewed firmly. "But I am hurt!" Sagekit squealed, turning around and showing her mother a light graze across her pale grey back and a scratch on her front paw. Petalnose's gaze softened and she licked the graze on Sagekit's back, ridding it of grit. Sagekit let out squeaks of pain and fidgeted under her mother's rough tongue. Her brother had carefully made it to the bottom of the slope now, and stood by Petalnose, his eyes wide with concern. "Is Sagekit okay?" he asked. "Yes, just slightly grazed," replied Petalnose. She turned to Sagekit. "Come with me and we'll get some herbs for your back." Tinypaw purred as the queen and her kits disappeared inside the Whispering Cave, Echosong's den. Sagekit would probably get into a lot more scrapes before she becomes a warrior! She saw Sparrowpelt running towards her. "Hey, Tinypaw! I'm going to take you hunting!" he mewed. Tinypaw nodded and ran over to her mentor. He led the way up the cliff path, not having to slow down at all, his rough pads protecting him against the stones. Tinypaw ran as fast as she could, but the sharp stones hurt her paws. Sparrowpelt was already stood on the grassy top as he turned and called back to his apprentice. "Sorry, I forgot your pads aren't as hard as mine!" he called to her. Tinypaw cast him a glance and reached the top. She leaped as high as she could, and managed to dig her unsheathed claws into the earth on the edge. Tinypaw scrabbled against the rock with her hind paws. She finally managed to pull herself up and lay down panting beside her mentor. "Come on, it will be easy once you're a fully grown warrior," he reasurred her. Tinypaw followed him over the fields, the soft grass relieving her paws. She sighed as she realised that he was heading to a tall tree. It surely meant that Sparrowpelt was going to attempt to teach her how to climb trees and catch squirrels. She sighed again, a bit louder, and Sparrowpelt spun around to face her. "Why do you keep sighing like that? Your going to learn how to catch squirrels and climb trees!" he mewed. Tinypaw scuffled her front paw in the dirt. "Exactly!" she mewed, frustrated. "I don't like climbing trees. I'm not of SkyClan descent like you are! I can't jump high!" Sparrowpelt stretched his tail out until it rested on her shoulder. "No one finds it easy. You just have to practice. You'll toughen up with time," he mewed. Tinypaw felt angry. No one seemed to get it. She just wasn't cut out to be a SkyClan cat. Maybe she never wanted to join. It wasn't actually her choice. Clovertail joined the clan, when Tinypaw had been too young to make her own decision. Tinypaw didn't want to give up quite yet though. She would keep going. How would her brothers Rockpaw and Bouncepaw react if they knew she didn't want to stay because she didn't think she was good enough. "Okay, I'll try again," she concluded. Sparrowpelt smiled at her. "Good. If you try hard I'll let you get the biggest piece of fresh-kill!" Tinypaw felt relieved. She turned and raced off after her mentor, the fresh morning breeze ruffling her pelt. The grass tickled her pads, and she could hear the calls of birds up in the sky. Sparrowpelt skidded to a stop beneath a small tree. Lots of thin but strong branches spread out from the wide trunk, providing a good surface for climbing. "Come on Tinypaw. This one is really easy to start with. Haven't you heard anyone talking about it? This tree is called the Small Tree. Have a go getting up as high as you can go." Tinypaw surveyed the whole tree. It was about five cat-lengths high and three fox-lengths across. The branches were spread far enough apart for a cat to comfortably leap between them. "Go on," urged Sparrowpelt encouragingly. Tinypaw took a deep breath and tensed her legs ready to spring. She unsheathed her thorn sharp claws and sprang up onto a low branch. It wobbled under her weight and dipped slightly so that its golden leaves brushed the ground. She gulped. She had a big fear of heights, one reason why she didn't really think she could be a SkyClan cat. Sparrowpelt nodded from the ground. "Go on! You're doing fine!" Tinypaw reached out and leaped onto the next branch. It was slightly thinner than the one before, and looked fragile. Tinypaw dug her claws into the brittle bark and her thick white fur bristled in fear around her small shoulders. The branch swang side to side, making her feel sick. She tried not to think about it and sprung up onto the next branch. It was thick and held her weight well without moving. It gave Tinypaw more confidence. She made her way up a few close branches, beggining to relax. Tinypaw then came to a stop. She was only a couple of branches from the top of the tree, but the next leap was level with her ear tips. Sparrowpelt looked up through the branches. "You're doing well!" he mewed. "Keep going!" Tinypaw waggled her haunches and pushed off. Her front claws sunk into the branch, but her hind paws flailed wildly in mid-air. "Help!" Tinypaw screeched, feeling her grip begin to loosen, her claws slipping out of the bark. She risked a look at the far away ground, and Sparrowpelt's worried face. "Cherrytail and Rockpaw are coming!" he mewed. Great! Now more cats are going to see my failure! ''she thought bitterly. She felt one paw fall free of the branch, and braced herself for the fall. It all seemed to drag by. Tinypaw heard Cherrytail's frantic mew, along with Rockpaw's gasp. She felt the wind whistling past her ears, and her other paw slipping. Then she hit the ground. Pain shot through her spine and legs, and she let out an agonised wail. She screwed up her eyes tried to bear the pain. It had spread to her head now, making things even worse. She grunted, unable to speak. She forced open her eyes and saw Cherrytail and Sparrowpelt's faces looming over her. "Quick, we need to get her to Echosong!" mewed Cherrytail frantically. Sparrowpelt gently gripped one of her legs, and began to pull her. Pain overcome her leg, and she wailed out loud. Sparrowpelt took her other leg and tried that one. She was soon being dragged back to camp. The pain was beggining to ebb now, but all of her body felt stiff, too stiff to move. "How will we get her down the gorge?" asked Cherrytail. "We'll all have to carry her," replied Sparrowpelt. Rockpaw trailed miserably by his sister's side. He never wanted this to happen. Tinypaw felt two more loose sets of teeth, one on each front leg. She felt the steep drop as she was being carried down the gorge, and got bumped against the rock. Clovertail ran over once they were a the bottom. "Is she okay?" she mewed worriedly, licking her daughter's ears. "We don't know," replied Sparrowpelt grimly. Tinypaw was soon lying in a soft nest of moss in Echosong's den. Her leg was stretched out as Echosong began to sniff it. Clovertail, Sparrowpelt and Rockpaw gathered by her side. Echosong straightened up. "She is okay, except for her hind leg, which is sprained quite badly. The rest of her is just a bit sore, but nothing major. She'll need to stay here for a quarter moon while her leg heals. Then she can probably resume some ''gentle ''training," she mewed. Sparrowpelt looked relieved. "I'm so sorry! I won't make you work too hard ever again!" he whispered in her ear. Clovertail and Rockpaw left the den. Sparrowpelt licked her ear and followed them. Tinypaw felt miserable as she lie there, helpless while Echosong plastered the smelly herbs onto her body. If only she wouldn't have climbed that stupid tree! : '''Chapter Two' Ok, I hope you like it so far! PLEASE put a comment on the discussion page if you've read this far. *Does puppy dog eyes* --Rabbitsnow 20:07, January 5, 2010 (UTC) : : : : : : : : : : : : : Category:Fan Fictions Category:Stories Rated Moderate